Mothers and sons. On children who have died in UK prisons

Police Cell Victimsource: The Justice Gap
published: 24 June 2015

Joseph Scholes and Adam Rickwood died within weeks of being placed in penal institutions. Carolyne Willow met the boys’ mothers, and tells their stories in her shocking book, Children Behind Bars.

Joseph’s story:
Joseph Scholes loved Lego. Every Christmas he would ask for the biggest set, the castle or the pirate galleon, and spend the day building. Joseph was one of four children, he belonged to a close family: they ate meals together around the kitchen table, had regular holidays and enjoyed each others’ company.

He was born in Sale, Greater Manchester, on 20 February 1986. His mother told me Joseph was quite a large baby and “very, very beautiful”.

Read full article >

Continue reading

Police cleared of misconduct over [Habib Ullah] death

Habib Ullah & Familysource: The Guardian
published: 15 June 2015

Five police officers who changed their accounts of a stop and search carried out on a man who later died have been cleared of misconduct by a disciplinary panel.

Thames Valley officers DS Jason Liles, DC Richard Bazeley and PCs Kate Granger, Chris Pomery and Howard Wynne admitted deleting aspects of their initial statements, including references to use of force, from accounts subsequently provided to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) of their encounter with Habib “Paps” Ullah, a 39-year-old father of three.

Ullah, from Slough, Berkshire, was declared dead at Wycombe General hospital on the evening of 3 July 2008, around 90 minutes after the car in which he was travelling was stopped by officers in High Wycombe.

Continue reading

‘Mark Duggan’s death could have been avoided’

Mark-Duggan_530x330source: The Voice Online
published: 23 March 2015

The death of Mark Duggan and the riots that followed could have been avoided, a Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed. One of the newspaper’s investigative reporters, David Rose, has said he has found evidence that failings on the part of the now-defunct Trident gun crime unit led to the shooting of the 29-year-old on August 4, 2011.

They could have instead focused on Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, the man serving time for supplying Duggan with a gun, who the family believe may have been a police informant and was being ‘protected by the police’.

Continue reading